The Moment
by Delectable Sweetness
Summary: Fin is working late at the precinct, trying to fix the mess the defense attorney made of their case with his accusations of a botched autopsy and lab results. He's tired and frustrated, but none of that matters when Melinda drops down to the precinct with their little girl.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Law and Order SVU or any of its characters. They belong to Dick Wolf. No copy infringement intended. However, I do own my own writing, my own characters and the plot to this story, Delectable Sweetness©.**

**Author's Note: So just a little Felinda one-shot that popped into my head. Hope you like it. *_***

The Moment

To say he was frustrated would be an understatement. In fact, saying he was frustrated would be a nice way of putting it. If he had to put it into words about how he was feeling at this exact moment in time… well, he would have to say that he was fucking pissed off! The damn paperwork just kept piling up and piling up on top of his desk, like one never ending mountain of files. It wasn't as if he hadn't already done it because the thing was, he had!

But now he had to go through it all again because some lousy medical examiner decided to not do their job properly and mess up when it counted the most. He rued the day Captain Cragen had made him lead detective on this case. Sure, being lead detective felt nice sometimes. It made him feel like he was getting recognition for all the hard work he was putting in, but this was just going to a whole new level. Just when they had all thought that they had this case figured out, their 'I's' dotted and their 'T's' crossed, the defence just had to go and throw a damn curveball their way, claiming that the medical examiner had messed up the autopsy and lab results.

Now, not only did he have to try and repair the mess the new medical examiner had made, he didn't get to go home to his beautiful wife or their newly born daughter.

That really pissed him off!

He sighed angrily, making it known that he wasn't too happy at this moment in time. How could he be? He didn't actually think that somebody who had went to college to study to become a doctor could be so incompetent. He swore that M.E. Warren was purposefully screwing with them, fucking up their evidence so they wouldn't have a case. He sighed. It was the 'Stuckie incident' all over again. He just hoped the medical examiner didn't turn homicidal.

He came out of his thoughts with a sigh when he heard Olivia grumble to herself. He looked to the brunette sitting at her desk, watching as she tiredly ran her hands over her face. "I can't believe we have to go through all these files again," she said to no-one in particular, and Fin had to agree with her on that.

He wasn't too thrilled about doing it either, but it had to be done. If they didn't try and somehow fix this mess then Casey would be chewing their asses, and he was not in the mood to listen to some angry redhead rant on about their incompetency. He knew that she wouldn't mean it. Of course she wouldn't. It would just be her anger and frustration talking. But still, it did get annoying when someone was questioning your ability to do your job.

"I know," Fin muttered a few seconds later, more to himself than anyone else, but they heard him because they all turned their attention to him. "Remind me to never take lead detective on a case again!" They all just chuckled at his statement. They knew, just as well as he did that he would take the opportunity again. He was just frustrated, plus the mood had lightened just a little bit.

"Well, I think it's a conspiracy against us," Munch piped in. They all groaned.

"How so?" Fin asked curiously, not really interested. He dropped his eyes back to the file that was lying open on is desk.

"What… making us look through these files and the evidence over and over again until we find something that isn't there… I think the defence is trying to turn us into mindless zombies," Munch explained his theory before picking up a file and relaxing back into his seat, throwing his feet up onto his desk.

Fin rolled his eyes at his partner's absurd theory, but he had to give him some credit for the mindless zombie part. He was slowly beginning to feel his sanity slipping away. This case was going to send him to the psychiatric ward at Bellevue, he just knew it.

"Okay, so what do we have anyway?" He asked as he threw his file down and stood up from his seat. His eyes were beginning to get sore from reading the small writing under such a dull light. He walked over to the evidence board where they had most of their case laid out.

Elliot stood up and wandered over to the board with him. "Anita Meyers, twenty-two, raped and murdered near Central Park three weeks ago," he began explaining. "The rain washed most of the evidence away, but there was some semen present in the vic's mouth and on other parts of her body… Mostly parts that was clothed." He pointed to a picture of a bush. "She was found here… The bush protected most of her from the rain."

"The medical examiner's findings claimed that she had been raped repeatedly and that she had died from asphyxiation." Olivia began explaining, moving up to stand beside them. "Our initial suspect was the victim's boyfriend, but he had an alibi… then it went to people she worked with," she sighed.

"Her boss, Tony Sanchez, became our prime suspect when it was found out that he was money laundering. The victim found out about it and threatened to go to the cops," Munch explained. "The semen found on our vic was his and there was a tape of him threatening her."

Fin shook his head in frustration. Everything seemed to line up perfectly with their prime suspect. The tape, the DNA evidence, the fact that he didn't have an alibi in question, it all added up, so how could it be wrong? "I just don't get it," he mumbled, looking at the board once again. "Everything points to, Tony Sanchez, so how can the defence say the autopsy and lab results were botched?" He wondered.

"I don't know, Fin, but because of those accusations… we have to go through this evidence with a fine tooth comb… again." Olivia answered his question.

He shook his head. "I think we should question the vic's parents, boyfriend and work colleagues again, and make sure that they're not leaving anything out, no matter how small it may seem. We need all the evidence and information we can get." He declared. Everyone agreed with him. He knew it was their only chance in solving this case.

"Fin!" He turned when he heard someone call his name. It was Captain Cragen.

"Yeah, Cap?" He asked, watching as Cragen walked over to them.

"I need you to ask, Melinda if-" He cut himself off, pausing for a moment. "Ah, Melinda… just the person I was looking for." He then replied.

Frowning slightly, Fin looked towards the entrance of the bullpen and saw Melinda walking in, pushing Sasha's stroller. A beaming smile crossed his face when he saw his beautiful wife. He hadn't seen her since last night. He had gotten a call in the middle of the night to go to a crime scene and so he had to leave their warm bed and the presence of his wife to go investigate a case.

He was pleasantly surprised to see Melinda and their little girl, though. He always missed them terribly when he was at work.

"For me?" Melinda spoke, bringing him out of his thoughts. She had stopped at their little group.

Cragen nodded. "Yes, I was wondering if I could speak to you for a moment." He asked curiously.

Melinda frowned a little, but then nodded. "I'll be there in a minute, Don," she replied.

He watched as his Captain returned to his office before turning his attention to his wife, looking at her with a raised eyebrow. "Don?" He smirked.

Melinda grinned. "He's not my boss," she leaned up and pressed her lips against his. "Hey," she mumbled against his mouth.

He smiled, replying with, "hey." He gave her one more peck before she pulled back. He reached out and ran his hand gently up and down her arm. "How come you're down here so late?" He asked curiously. It was after eleven at night.

"Well, Sasha was crying, and I figured she just wanted to see her daddy… She fell asleep on the way here," She smiled. Grinning, he moved closer to the stroller. He looked down at Sasha who was fast asleep, but that didn't stop him from wanting to hold her. Reaching down, he was about un-buckle her and lift her out of the confines of her little nest of blankets when Melinda swatted his hands away. He looked at his wife who was glaring at him slightly. "Don't you dare," she said sternly.

Fin frowned. "Why not?"

"Because if you wake her up and she starts crying… then you'll be watching her for the rest of the night, whether you have a case of not," she threatened.

Fin grinned. He knew that was an empty threat. Melinda knew he would gladly stay up all night with their little girl. She didn't care about having to stay up all night with her either, but he did know that she hated it when people woke up Sasha while she was sleeping peacefully. He stood up a little straighter. "Fine," he sighed.

"Okay," she looked at him for a moment. "I'm going to see, Captain Cragen." She turned around and walked to Cragen's office.

Fin waited until Melinda had entered the office and shut the door before he bent down towards the sleeping angel. Quietly and gently, he moved Sasha's blankets and un-buckled her. He froze when she stirred. He didn't want her to wake up, only because Melinda would hear her crying and then she would kill him.

"Melinda is going to kill you," Olivia said in a sing-song voice as he gently lifted his little girl into his arms.

He stood up straight and let his little girl rest against his chest as he held her securely to him. He titled his head and pressed a kiss to the top of her head, breathing in the smell of her baby shampoo. "She's worth it," he grinned as he let his hand rub soothingly along her little back. "So, back to the case," he said quietly, eyeing the board in front of him.

They began explaining in detail what else they had so far. He listened intently as he lightly rocked from side to side, a habit he had picked up during the many nights of trying to get Sasha back to sleep. He pressed another kiss to her head, enjoying the moment.

She began stirring, so he cradled her in his arms and began rocking her gently. He didn't want to wake her up. After all, she was only two weeks old, so she needed her sleep.

"Really Fin?" He jumped slightly, coming out of his thoughts when he heard Melinda.

He looked at her. "What?" He asked innocently.

She rolled her eyes. "You just couldn't resist, could you?" She smirked.

"Hey, it's not my fault she's adorable," he grinned, still rocking the sleeping baby. "Besides, I've caught you picking her up when she's asleep," he said a little smugly.

"Oh yeah, when?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Last night, just before we went to bed."

Melinda gave him a sheepish grin. "Hey, it's not my fault she's adorable," she repeated his early statement. He watched as she placed a soft kiss to their baby girl's head. "She's going to have us wrapped around her little finger," she grinned, her smile stretching from ear to ear.

Fin chuckled a little. "She already has."

**Author's Note: So what did you think? Was it any good? I think it was cute, especially near the end. Awe, family moment. **

**Review please. *_* xxx**


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